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Vinca minor
Also called Periwinkle, Common Periwinkle, Dwarf periwinkle, Small periwinkle, Creeping myrtle, Running Myrtle, Lesser Periwinkle [plant]
In Singapore: Common Periwinkle, Myrtle, Creeping Myrtle, Vince (Cultivated in Singapore)
Lesser periwinkle is a low, evergreen trailing groundcover that roots as it spreads, forming dense mats. It grows easily in shade or part shade with average moist soil.
Vinca minor (common names lesser periwinkle or dwarf periwinkle) is a species of flowering plant in the dogbane family, native to central and southern Europe. Other vernacular names used in cultivation include small periwinkle, common periwinkle, and sometimes in the United States, myrtle or creeping myrtle.
The species is commonly grown as a groundcover in temperate gardens for its evergreen foliage, spring and summer flowers, ease of culture, and dense habit that smothers most weeds. It was once commonly planted in cemeteries in parts of the Southern U.S. and naturalized periwinkle may indicate the presence of graves whose other markers have disappeared.
Vinca minor is native to central and southern Europe, from Portugal and France north to the Netherlands and the Baltic states, east to the Caucasus, and also southwestern Asia in Turkey.
Vinpocetine (brand names: Cavinton, Intelectol; chemical name: ethyl apovincaminate) is a semisynthetic derivative alkaloid of vincamine with purported medicinal uses.
Intermediate Periwinkle · Herbaceous periwinkle · Greater Periwinkle · Periwinkle
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Vinca minor by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
